Download Modernist Writing on WiCRam Montgomery `Watt

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Modernist Writing on WiCRam
Montgomery 'Watt
Modernist Writings on William Montgomery Watt
Islam and the west is no new subject. Islam is the most
misunderstood religion in the west. A critical study of the western writers
on Islam reveals ignorance and prejudice.
A few outstanding western scholars have devoted their works to
Islamic studies because of their sincere interest in it. This is undoubtedly
a welcome change, but despite the sane and fair approach of only a few,
the general atmosphere still abounds with ignorance and prejudice. Real
teachings of Islam are extraneous to the west.
Western writers on the whole has impelled by the desire to find out
weakness in Islam and the Islamic pattern of things which can be
exploited to serve the political ends of the Christian west.
In the opinion of many modernist writers of east William
Montgomery Watt was acknowledged a leading western authority on
Islam and prophet Muhammad at the same time. He was a learned
Christian scholar whose writings on Islam and Christianity and biography
of Prophet and historical subjects are well known among the Muslim
scholar also.
There have been very few scholarly writings by Muslim scholars
in English about orientalist views on Islam in general and the Quran in
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particular criticized the orientalists have always tried their best to study
on the Islam but the Muslim Scholars have now presented their views of
what had been written about Islam by them.
Regarding the study on Islam it is obvious that an analysis and
evaluation of the works of Watt by Modem writers be done. Because
many modem writers have out only analysed but have also presented a
healthy and factual criticism of Prof. Watt's writings on Islam and
Prophet.
In the seventh century Islam crossed the boarder of Arabia and was
spreading faster in Iran and other parts of the world. This made the
western writers very apprehensive. So they decided to arrest spreading
power of Islam and they began to projected it as the most despicable and
repulsive force against Christianity. The reason behind it that they
considered Islam a great threat against Christian faith. A glance at
twentieth century literature on Prophet Muhammad shows that many
authors treated the subject not an area of substantial interest but an
additional issue. We also have observed an intense prejudice and hatred
against the religion and two fundamental sources i.e. the Quran and the
Sunnah. Therefore the need of the time was to develop a better
understanding between the two civilizations i.e. Islamic and Western.
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Among the 20* century Western Scholars of Islam, W.M. Whatt
stands out as the most prolific writer on Prophet Muhammad. Since he
seems to have a better understanding of Islam, he is able to occupy a
special chairs of Islamic studies in the western orientalist school. Unlike
others, who has spent all their energies in painting the darkest possible
picture of Islam and the life of Prophet, W.H. Watt has used a subtle
technique of interpretation by using the Modem attire of objective study.
Sheikh Ahmad Zaki Yameni has indirectly spoken about Watt's
eminence among western scholars in the foreword to Watt's book 'Islam
and Christianity today\^ Shaikh Yamani says : Professor Watt has done
much in the effort to fi-ee the western mentality of the shackles of
prejudice and hatred that originated in the hostilities of medieval times
and that originated in the hostilities of medieval times and that have for
so long blinded the western world to the merit of trying to understand
Islam. In spite of the phenomenal difficulties inherent in attempting to
reconcile positions that are generally regarded as irreconcilable he has
achieved a high level of open-mindedness. He recognized the efforts of
Watt to free the Western mentality of the shockles of prejudice by using a
high level of open mind ness. According to him Watt has maintained a
more balanced attitude towards the understanding of Islam than of his
contemporaries.
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Antonic Weakeles considered W.M. Wat's 'Muhammad At Mecca'
and ''Muhammad at Modena"" very profound and respectable accounts
regarding the biography of the Prophet Mohammad. Imaduddin Khalil
favoured him by saying that Watt rendered it necessary to maintain
respect and impartiahty while writing about the unseen foundation in the
background of the facts and events related to the prophet's life.
According to Khurshid Ahmad, Watt has made an effort to change
the attitude of Western scholarship on Islam and Prophet.
A.L. Tibawi who could usually see through the hidden facts and
spot the wrong impression about Islam, which was the result of
hypocritical stance by many Western scholars , has praised Watt's work
in his words that Watt has made an honest attempt and also his command
of the facts and his imaginative reconstruction of events are really
admirable.'*
Khurram Murad was of the opinion that Watt was kind enough to
lend a sympathetic era and pen to Islam.
A.S. Bazmee admires his openness and honesty in pointing out the
problems non-Muslim Western scholars face in the field of Islamic
studies.^
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A modem writer, Andreas D'souza, critically analyzed the writing
of Watt and said that Watt attempted to move beyond a mere description
of Islamic data to the more challenging task of helping Muslims to
deepen and strengthen their faith, making it more directly relevant to the
questions and issues we face today.
There can be no doubt about W.M. contribution of Watt in the field
of study of Islam. But inspite at all this, we can not deny the fact that
Jabal Mohammad Bauben has accused Watt to have relied on his own
conjectures overlooking the contemporary Islamic scholars. All this is
specially in connection with the image of Prophet Muhammad.
There is no doubt that Jabal Muhammad Buaban brings out the
historical background of the negative image of the prophet in the writing
of the western writers. In doing so he discovered that Watt has insisted
that the Quran is a subdued revelation, and not wholly true. He furthers
points out that Watt has shown a special fascination with the concocted
story of the "satanic verses".
Josef Ven Ess points out that since Watt has been Anglican
Clergyman throughout this life, therefore, sometimes his writings could
be described as didactic or possibly propagandistic.^
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Muhammad Hamidullah, through praises Watt for his efforts in
translating the works, yet he clearly spots the fact that Watt has offered an
incorrect rendering of Al-Ghazali's original.
Dr. M.M. Ali in his book Sirat-al-Nabi and the orientalists^ has
critically analysed the works of Watt in order to refute the life of Prophet
Muhammad. According to him the suggestion made by him regarding the
ambition and preparation on the prophet's parts to become the messenger
of God are totally groundless and they are not supported by the text of
Quran or by the traditions of the Prophet.
Whether it be Muhammad's experience of poverty as a Youngman.
Novurshing the sense of deprivation or his exclusion from the most
lucrative trade or his consciousness of having great organizing ability, all
allegations are baseless. We donot get any record of any kind of criticism
by his subsequent opponents if they had knowledge of Muhammad's
preparation for becoming a leader. Apart from this, we get the example of
divine consolation to the prophet of the movement of dejection which
was caused by people continuous disobedience.
The Quranic passage "And you were not used to reading /reciting
any book before this, nor to writing it with your right hand " (29:48)
clearly shows that the statement has been made in the context of
unbeliever's allegations that the Prophet had himself composed the text.
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Since the passage itself expresses tlie absurdity of allegations of Watt's
statement "there is a presumption that Muhammad knew at least enough
to keep commercial records" or when Watt says that probability
Muhammad had the old world stories written down for him by
secretaries", it can be discarded because Watt does not provide the
relevant source in this connection. Depending upon only on probabilities
does not make any sense.
Though it is obvious that an analysis and evaluation of the works
of these idea of their approach to the 19* century and at the beginning of
20* century. It also gives us relevant information about the evaluation of
their ideas and opinions throughout and till the present time.
While having a close look at Watt's tall claim i.e. "I am not a
Muslim in the usual sense, though I hope I am a "Muslim"'*^ as "one
surrendered to God". It can be observed that in declaring himself a
'Muslim' he seems to have an intention in his mind to misguide people.
Although the basic meaning of the word 'Muslim' is to surrender to God'
but Watt has forgotten that to be a Muslim one must believe in five pillars
of Islam, the very first of which is to believe in Almighty Allah and His
prophets. He himself has criticized the prophet which a sensible Muslim
can never ever dream of. Therefore there is no point in considering him a
Muslim spending life time in the study of Islam, leaving the basic pillars
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of Islam,
how can one declare himself a Muslim. The intention is
obvious Watt wanted to misguide the people with the helps of his
fabricated words.
In his book 'Islam and Christianity today' discussing Christian
attitude to Islam Watt has distorted the image of Islam on the basis of
violence, self indulgence, moral and sexual weakness especially in
connection with the practice of Prophet Muhammad who was popularly
identified with the devil. Though he further highlighted the efforts of
various scholars who could correct more gross and enormous distortion
resulting into positive image which is presently revived.
Similar kind of argument is given in his article "Muslim-Christian
dialogue"" in Hamdard Islamicus published from Pakistan. In this article
he has written mainly about his efforts of understanding the extent of
confirm that the Christians of today are in no position to condemn out
right the sexual ethics of Islam.
Actually what appears is that Watt is trying his best to understand
certain aspects of Islam comprehensively but of not all together, at times,
he seems to have failed. If we will go through the study of Quran and
Sunnah any body can find that Islam is a religion of peace, Justice, noviolence and morality. And all these points can be confirmed from
various direct references fi-om the life of Prophet and Sahaba. Whether it
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is about polygamy, mutual differences on various fronts, moral
degradation, sexual ethics or any other issues, Islam provides solution to
all these issues.
Zafar Ali Qurashi says : Montgomery Watt is prominent among
such well-known orientalists. His two volume biography Muhammad at
Mecca and Muhammad at Medina, has become a veritable orientalists
classic upheld as the uncontested authority on the subject even at
Pakistani Colleges and universities.
Mazeruddin Siddiqi write ; Most of the books written by Prof. Watt
on Islam and life of the Holy Prophet of Islam show him to be not too
much sympathetic to Islam.
Tibawi writes : My acquaintance with Montgomery Watt is slight,
but I studied all his works on Islam and reviewed a number of them. As a
typical example, I quote here from my assessment of his portrait of
Muhammad as a prophet and statesman. It simplified and popularized the
author's earlier and more scholarly volumes. Almost every Orientalist has
at one time or another tried his hand on the life of Muhammad, but down
to our own time their approach and its outcome continue to be colored
with prejudice and hostility. Often enough, the Orientalists sat in
judgement on Muhammad and Islam according to standards that ill befit
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his time and environment. Often enough they lingered on inevitable
human contradictions in order to discredit the man and his cause.
Montgomery Watt's contributions "had been remarkable for
attempting to redress the balance. His command of the facts and his often
imaginative interpretation are admirable. But his treatment of Muhammad
the statesman is more acceptable to Muslim opinion than that of
Muhammad the prophet". For while his Prophethood and sincerity are
recognized, it is asserted in the same breath that he was "aware" of
Jewish and Biblical traditions. This is an ill-disguised resurrection of the
hoary story of the alleged Judaeo-Christian "origins" of Islam. That is in
conflict with the Qur'an, or that its propagation in these "liberal" times is
offensive to the believers does not seem to have troubled the mind of the
writer. He cannot be accused of ignorance of the Qur'an or of Islamic
sentiment. It is therefore inexplicable why he tried to ride two horses at
the same time.''*
In M.M. Watt article "Thought on Muslim Christian Dialogue"
editor write in his note about the Watt's writing Professor Watt is
certainly one of the best qualified to write on such a delicate and sensitive
subject as he is at one's both a committed Christian who combines in
himself loyalty to his faith with deep scholar of approach and, at the same
time, a renowned scholar in Islamic studies with an unusual sympathy \
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In this long article he has tried to pose the problems and the points of
dialogue without taking any definite position for himself^ Watt makes it
clear that " the following pages are addressed mainly to Christians in the
sense that, since the writer is a Christian he is most likely to have
influence with his fellow Christian Editor further stated - we must also
appreciate his courageous attitude in exposing certain misunderstanding
about Islam among the Christian and particularly his frank remark that
"the British Christian is generally very badly informed about Islam".'^
Mazheruddin Siddiqi and Ali Quli al-Qeiran write a review article
of Watt's book Islam and Christianity today- A contribution to
dialogue^^. In his review Mazheruddin look at the book positive and
negative both. Acknowledging what he sees as a positive posture of his
work, Mazheruddin cites- Professor Watt has been involved in the study
of Islam since 1938. He has written numerous books on Islam including
Islam and the integration of society, what is IslanP. The Formative Period
of Islamic Thought etc. Prof. Watt is considered to be a leading authority
in the English speaking world on the life of the holy prophet of Islam and
11
the early history of Islamic theology (Kalam) . According to
Mazheruddin most of the books written by Prof. Watt on Islam and the
life of the holy Prophet on Islam show him to be not too much
sympathetic to Islam. In this respect he does not stand favourable
255
comparison with Prof. H.A.R. Gibb; because sometimes he makes very
adverse remarks about Islam, His book Muhammad at Medina, is notably
defective from this print of view.'^ Al Qarai detects a dual efforts in
Watt's writings, he finds that Watt's inner dialogue is prompted by the
need to defend his own faith against the continuous growth of scientism,
and by defending Christianity, he would be defending aspects of Islamic
beliefs as well/^
In his article ''Free will and Predestination in Early Islam- A
critique appreciation" William Thomson writes about the Watt's writings
and says "Dr. Watt would perhaps disavow such an ambitious intent. But
his synthetic treatment of subject, which is virtually a new departure in
the study of Muslim religious thought, opens out that prospect for the
readers and he has put forward, well considered views regarding the
historical development of a department of that thought, wherever in his
opinion his sources entitled him to do so.
Thomson further says "How
valid his modestly tentative conclusions are will undoubtedly be the
subject of much further inquiry and discussion, but many of them will
assuredly stand the light of criticism and find ultimately general
acceptance, even if some restatement, or modification, be required in the
light of new material, or by the general recognition of some still disputed
01
foreign influence.
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A.L. Tibawi, in his review writes that Professor Montgomery Watt
is a prolific writer. His writing is clear, logical, and sparkles with
inventive comments. ^
James E.Royster in his article 'A survey of approaches from the
perspective of the history and phenomenology of religion'
says about
the Watt that he accepts Carlyle's guideline in focuses on the good side of
Muhammad.^"*
Royster writes that as one of the most prolific western writers on
Muhammad in the mid-twentieth century. Watt warrants special
rye ^ ^
attrention. Further Royster says Watt's work, his overall approach to the
study of Muhammad and Islam may be termed multi-methodological.
Second only to the underlying religio-historical orientation of most of his
work is a decided sociological current.
William A. Bijlefeld write in his article "some recent contributions
to Quranic studies : Selected publication in English, French, and German,
1964-1973 Part I " about the Watt work 'index to the Quran' in
Montgomery Watt's edition of Bell's introduction are helpful for anyone
who seeks to find Quranic data on a specific issue
Bijlefeld further says
that Montgomery Watt's companion is the most difficult one to
characterize, partly because of the extreme brevity of many notes. The
book certainly provides some helpful data which can be consulted with
257
ease and quickly. But with regard to Quran exegesis it is as true as in
many other cases that in trying to save time we may be in danger losing
it. It would be irresponsible to compare Montgomery Watt's companion
with Paret's for more demanding Kommentar without taking into
consideration that they try to reach different group of readers and intend
to serve different purposes. However, Montgomery Watt himself seems
to suggest in his 'introduction' that his commentary is not intended for
"the direction Watt's index is the remarkable scarcity of printed index to
the Quran in English Leaving the language aspects aside, it seems to me
that even these indexes, in themselves excellent,
Bijlefeld point out that Montgomery Watt had done earlier, the
question of the sources of the Quran is helpfully discussed in term of
influences of Jewish and Christian ideas on Arabs in the Pre-Islamic
Period.^^
258
References
1.
W.M. Watt, Islam and Christianity Today: A Contribution to Dialogue,
London, 1983.
2.
Ibid., p. IX.
3.
Modem Biographies of the Life of the Prophet Muhammad in Arabic,
Islamic Quarterly, Vol. 49, No. 2 (April 1975), p. 99.
4.
Review of Islamic Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 3/4 (July/October 1961), pp.
127-8.
5.
HamdardIslamicus, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Autumn, 1981), pp. 91-7.
6.
Andreas D'Souza, Christian approach to the Study of Islam: an analysis
of the writing of Watt and Cragg, The bulletin of Henry Martin, Institute
of Islamic Studies, Vol. 4, No. 1 and 2,1992, pp. 55-87.
7.
Jabal Mohammad Bauben, Image of Prophet Muhammad in the West,
United Kingdom, 1996.
8.
Alfort T. Welch and Pierre Cachia, Islamic Past Influence and Present
Challenges, Edinburgh, 1979.
9.
Mohammad Mohar Ali, Sir at al-Nabi and the Orientalists, Madina,
1997.
10.
W.M. Watt, op.cit., p. 3.
11.
W.M. Watt, Thought on Muslim Christian Dialogue, Hamdard
Islamicus, Vol. I, 1978, p. 5.
12.
Zafar Ali Prophet Muhammad and His Western Critics: A Critique of
W. Montgomery Watt and Others.
13.
Mazeruddin Siddiqi, Review of Watt's Islam and Christianity Today,
Islamic Studies, Vol. XXIII, No. 4, 1984, p. 1.
259
14.
A.A. Tibewi, On the Orientalist Again, Muslim World, Vol. LXX, 1980,
pp 55-61.
15.
W.M. Watt, Thought on Muslim Christian Dialogue.
16.
Mazeruddin Siddiqi, op.cit., p. 5.
17.
Ibid., p. 2.
18.
Ibid., ^.2.
19.
Ibid.,
20.
William Thomson, Free Will and Predestination in Early Islam: A
1^.3.
Critique and Appreciation, p. 208.
21.
Ibid., p. 20S.
22.
Review by A.L. Tibawi, Islamic Political Thought by W.M. Watt,
Islamic Quarterly, Vol. XIV, 1989, p. 53.
23.
James E. Royster, A Survey of Approaches from the Perspective of the
History and phenomenology of Religion, Muslim World, Vol. LXII
(January 1972), No. l,p. 52.
24.
Ibid., p. 52.
25.
Ibid., p. 63.
26.
Ibid., p. 64.
27.
William A, Bijlefeld, Some recent contribution to Quranic Studies,
Selected Publications in English, French and German, 1964-1973, Part I,
Muslim World, April 1974, Vol. LXIV, No. 2, p. 89.
28.
Ibid., p. 100.
29.
Ibid., Part III, Vol. LXIV, October, 1974, No. 4, p. 260.